May, 15, 2005 archives

• when you say “personal data,” specify exactly what it means (in this case, email address and list of favorite blogs)
• send the mail with a From: header different than the email to respond to from within the body
• if you tell people they can do something by email, make them put a special command in the Subject: or body so you can tell what they really mean

it doesn’t help matters that my php.net address (and the aliases i’m on) seems to be getting flooded with some sort of strange german political spam.

the strange german spam is actually the result of a worm/virus, and here’s some spamassassin rules to kill these german messages.

take allergy medication during the middle of the day that you know will knock you out.

the coming by joe haldeman is a first-contact story, set in the not-too-distant future of florida. i think he tried too hard to mix in a bit of an elmore leonard vibe, and just doesn’t pull it off.

camouflage by joe haldeman reminded me a lot of a michael crichton book, and that’s not entirely a good thing. it certainly shares a superficial similarity with sphere in that a mysterious (alien) object found in the ocean is a central plot point. but most of the action is in the story of two aliens who are drawn to the object, one which can shape-shift into anything, and another which can shape-shift into any human form.

i found the ending in both books to be pretty unsatisfying, and far too rushed. they also both really suffer from badly cliched scifi sex. here’s a classic review of camouflage from j.p. bonsen on amazon: “Hot alien babeomorph seduces nerd scientist to get near priceless treasure only to be semi-waylaid by evil billionaire immortal whilst buffeted by the passions of unintended xenoromance. Good stuff!”

i picked up both books based on their mentions in jwz’s list of recently-read books.

mercurial is yet another version control system sparked by the no-more-free-bitkeeper kerfuffle.

matt mullenweg has heard that the new owner of blo.gs is cool.

i can’t wait to read on om’s weblog how much i got for it.